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Video: Special Glove Gives You Robotic Sixth Finger

Michael Kwan — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 15:00:05 +0000

Apparently, the next step in robotic-assisted human evolution is to add an extra finger to our hands. That’s what San Francisco University student “Frenzy” did with his special glove. Have you ever wanted to have a finger beyond your pinky?

Also a member of Instructables, “Frenzy” calls his project “Primitive Transhumanism #2: Sixth Finger.” In effect, you get a robotic glove where there is an extra finger to the left hand. The “purpose is left ambiguous on purpose,” says Frenzy, “to engage the viewer on what these sorts of transformations can mean for the body. I encourage viewers of the piece to imagine a world where a primitive transhumanism could be advantageous.”

Yes, the project is a little on the ugly side at the moment with wires and circuitry everywhere, but you can see how this could be potentially cleaned up for some sort of commercial application. It uses an EMG Sensor from Advancer Technologies, which really lets you control that robotic sixth finger as if it were your own. As this kind of innovation continues, it may not be long before we can add even more complex appendages. Doctor Octopus, anyone?

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Handroid robot hand by ITK is remote controlled with a glove

Michael Kwan — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 22:16:10 +0000

This is starting to look a little too much like a T-800 endoskeleton, but you have to admit that the technology involved is pretty interesting. What you see here is the Handroid, a robot hand developed by a Japanese company called ITK. It’s a fully articulated robot hand with the same kind of dexterity as a human hand.

Each finger can move independently and the hand as a whole is meant to be “sensitive” enough to be suitable for touching humans or handling fragile objects. This could be great for remote bomb defusing, for instance, rather than having the actual human go over to deal with it themselves. The control scheme makes sense too, since the operator simply wears a glove. The movements of the operator are then mirrored by the Handroid.

Is the beginning for a cybernetic organism to be brought from the future to save John Connor? What if ITK partnered up with IBM, combining the Handroid with that new brain chip? Are you ready for the robot apocalypse? In any case, the Handroid is being planned for launch in a couple of years with an expected price point of $6500. Watch the short clip below for a peek at how the hand moves.

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